


Together

by Aiffe



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Crying Garnet, Episode Tag, F/F, Gem Fusion, Gemslash, Light Angst, polygems - Freeform, the return
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 19:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4678706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aiffe/pseuds/Aiffe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A missing scene from The Return—what the gems talked about after Steven left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together

“All right, pull it together,” Garnet said.

“You can see that it’s going to turn out all right…right?” Pearl said, grasping—both at hope and at Garnet’s arm.

“Not with future vision, no,” Garnet admitted. “But…I do know it’s going to be all right. Because I’ve got a good team.” It was a valiant attempt, but the look of dread didn’t leave Amethyst’s face, and Garnet could still feel the tremors in Pearl’s hands.

“What are we going to do?” Pearl asked.

Before Garnet could answer, Amethyst cut in. “We’re gonna be _fucked_.”

“No, we’re not,” Garnet said, but Amethyst went on.

“I know what _we’re_ going to do, because we’re doing it—we’re going to shit our pants.”

“I don’t _do_ that,” Pearl said, disgusted.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Not like, _literally_.” She ran her fingers through her unruly hair, tugging a bit hard. “But, what I really wanna know is, what are _they_ gonna do? What do they _want_?”

Garnet and Pearl were silent. “We’ve beaten them before,” Garnet said at length. “They’ll remember that.”

“Maybe…” Pearl said, hesitant. “Maybe they won’t kill us, if we don’t fight.”

“You think so?” Amethyst said, with a dubious optimism. “Like, they’d just leave us alone?”

“They won’t leave us alone,” Garnet said, cold fury keeping her words perfectly even. “Even if that worked, they’d take us back to Homeworld.”

“Oh,” Amethyst said. “What’s that even like?”

Neither Pearl nor Garnet seemed to savor the prospect.

“And bad things would happen to Earth then too, right?” Amethyst asked.

“That’s right,” Garnet said.

“But…we won’t do the Earth a lot of good if we’re dead,” Pearl said. At Garnet’s glare she quailed. “Sorry…it is true, though. If we can convince them to spare us, we might have time to do something. Sabotage them, or recruit more allies. Something.”

“You think that could work?” Amethyst asked.

“I…I’m not sure, but…if Lapis’s message is accurate, they’re coming with a lot more force than we can fight…perhaps it would be better to try appeasing them. At least see if it might work before fighting.”

“And then once they think we’re too pathetic to kill, _bam_! We’ve got ‘em,” Amethyst said. “All right…that’s a plan, right? We have a plan.”

But Garnet’s fists were balled. “Say it out loud, Pearl.”

“Um…”

She turned to Pearl. “You _know_ they aren’t going to show any mercy if I meet them as I am.”

“Well, um…” Pearl said. She released Garnet’s arm, and played with her own fingers nervously. Comprehension dawned on Amethyst’s face, and with it, tension.

“It’s just…” Pearl said. “It wouldn’t be forever! Just when they first come here…they’d be less angry. If you weren’t fused.”

Icy silence followed her words, for several seconds. Pearl met Garnet’s gaze imploringly, as if begging her to understand, willing her to feel her love for her, but also to consider this option.

“Pearl,” Garnet said. “I’m not ashamed of how I am.”

“I know that! I know…Garnet…I don’t want you to be ashamed. I just want you to be safe….”

“After the Rebellion, one fusion more or less isn’t going to matter. Whatever comes, I’m going to meet it as I am.”

“I know how important this is to you,” Pearl said. “I just don’t want it to seem like we’re….”

“Like we’re what, Pearl.”

“Like we’re…trying to make them angry, or like fighting’s the only option. Look, Garnet, I’m not a coward. You know how I…how I fought, during the Rebellion. But there was always a strategy to it! And I always knew we could win…that we _would_ win, even if I wasn’t there to see it….” Her hands now shook badly enough to be clearly seen. “Rose knew when retreat and subterfuge were important, too. We don’t have the advantage. We don’t even have an army anymore. And you and Amethyst and Steven…you’re all I have, so….”

“Pearl, I understand that you just want to protect me,” Garnet said—gentler, but no less firm. “And I know it’s different to be brave with your own life than with someone else’s. But I’m not unfusing to appease Homeworld. That’s a possibility that passed a long time ago. I’m proud of how I am. I’m willing to fight for it. And if it comes to that, I’m willing to die for it. However this ends, I’m staying true to myself. If we can win, it’ll be through the strength of who we are—not by pretending to be someone we’re not.”

“You’re right,” Pearl said. “Garnet, I…I’m sorry I asked that of you.”

“It’s all right, Pearl.”

“You must think I’m….”

“No, I understand.” She put her hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

Pearl nodded, as if to herself, then looked up at Garnet fiercely. “If you have to face Homeworld as a fusion…then we won’t let you do it alone.” She turned to Amethyst. “Amethyst…will you fuse with me?”

Amethyst looked surprised for a moment, then took Pearl’s hand. “Yeah. We got your back, Big G.” She grinned. “Or…Small G, in a moment.”

“That’s…” Garnet said. “It means a lot to me, you know that. Even that you’d offer. But you don’t really have to do it. Just you two standing with me is enough. You don’t have to take that risk…and I know Opal is still unstable.”

Amethyst and Pearl looked at each other, then back at Garnet, and Amethyst said, “We get it. And we’re not gonna be unstable this time. We’re of one mind about this. We’re proud of who you are, too—and if Homeworld hates fusions, then too bad, because they’re about to get punched in the face by two of them.”

Pearl squeezed Amethyst’s hand. “Precisely.”

Both smaller gems pulled Garnet into a hug, and Garnet hugged them back, wiping away a tear as they pulled back. Amethyst and Pearl turned to each other, and began to dance. It had been a long time since Garnet last saw such wildly different dancing styles blend so seamlessly. Pearl and Amethyst had always had difficulty synchronizing. It reminded her almost of the contrast in Ruby and Sapphire’s earliest dances, before they’d found their harmony.

They merged into a single light, and from that light Opal formed. In her, Garnet could already see the overlapping strengths of Pearl and Amethyst—Pearl’s iron dedication once a plan had been decided upon, Amethyst’s adaptability. She looked worried, as would be expected, but she had two very different kinds of bravery giving her strength.

Opal stooped in front of Garnet, reached out her two lower arms, and took Garnet’s hands from underneath, gently placing her upper hands over them, holding each hand in a tender clasp.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Garnet said. “Thank you.”

Opal leaned in, and pressed a chaste kiss to Garnet’s lips. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

“All right,” Garnet said, “Let’s do this. Together.”

“Together,” Opal agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Want to share this on tumblr? Find it [on my ficblog](http://forbitten-fruit.tumblr.com/post/127823489061/together-steven-universe-polygems)!


End file.
